Nissan electric sports car concept coming next week

Nissan will show a new zero-emission concept car, expected to be a physical version of the Max-Out design study, on Thursday 2 February.

The vehicle’s debut has been previewed via a Youtube broadcast with a picture of somebody stepping out from the passenger side, hinting that Nissan has built a physical version of the digital-only Max-Out concept.

The video's description reinforces this impression. It reads: “Join us on February 2 to see what happens when virtual becomes physical. Discover how our latest concept car takes zero emissions mobility to the max!”

Producing a real-world model of the Max-Out would signal Nissan’s renewed commitment to driver-focused sports cars amid the company’s push to electrification.

The Japanese firm previously said the forward-looking design study would offer a “new driving experience with its superlative stability and comfort”, tight handling and limited body roll. 

Such characteristics could be imbued by the use of solid-state battery technology, which, Autocar recently reported, will be used in the company’s electric cars from 2028.

Solid-state batteries could accept triple the 130kW charge rate of the Nissan Ariya’s lithium ion pack, said David Moss, Nissan’s senior vice-president for research and development in Europe.

Such speed could allow the maker to reduce the size (and therefore weight) of a car’s battery pack – offering huge benefits to performance and dynamics – without compromising usability compared with current models.

Nissan has committed €15.6 billion (£13.7bn) to EV development over the next five years in addition to the €7.8bn (£6.9bn) it has already spent.

As for the Max-Out’s interior, previous images have revealed a bare-bones layout, featuring little more than a squared-off steering wheel and a display screen spanning the dashboard. The passenger seat can be folded into the floor to further boost room, said Nissan.

The Max-Out represents the sporting offering in a range of ‘-Out’ cars that hint at the next generation of Nissan EVs. The rest of the range comprised the Chill-Out, a crossover slated for production at Sunderland, the Surf-Out pick-up and the Hang-Out MPV.